DESIGN HISTORY SPOTLIGHT: Wiener Werkstätte
In the oversaturated landscape of design inspiration present in the average Instagram feed, everything starts to look the same. With the feedback loop of observation and execution tightening more and more with each passing day, I feel an intense need to break out of that repetitive trap. I often turn to design history to do so. As we focus on creative team dynamics and how to nurture team relationships in the month of November, I was reminded of one of my all-time favorite design firms (Movements? Collectives? Groups?) that utilized the differing skills of a diverse collection of craftsmen and artists to form their own wholly unique and endlessly influential style.
The Wiener Werkstätte, what many consider the original design firm, began in 1903 as a collaboration between architect Josef Hoffman and graphic designer Koloman Moser. Located in Vienna, Austria, the Werkstätte united architects, artists, designers and artisans working in ceramics, fashion, silver, furniture and the graphic arts. The firm operated from the philosophy of the Gesamtkunstwerk, or “total work of art,” in which they sought to create a unified aesthetic across an entire designed environment.
Outside of any higher level aesthetic philosophy, these designs are just incredibly cool, weird, and refreshingly pure of intent. There’s an overarching sense of exploration inherent to the Werkstätte’s portfolio that, at the risk of sounding centenarian, feels so rare compared to today’s proliferation of algorithmically-driven design. The artists and craftspeople of the Werkstätte lived in a time dominated by classical art, and their work shows an overwhelming urge to break from that paradigm. For me, when observing a piece of art, perceived time tends to dissolve in favor of the unique point of view of the artist, but knowing the historical context of these designs only strengthens my admiration. With how palpably boundary-pushing and fresh these textiles and objects still feel to this day, I still glean inspiration from that pure undiluted artistic drive.
Beyond their stunning proto-cubist motifs, the Werkstätte to me is honestly most impressive as a collective of uniquely gifted craftspeople and designers that coalesced toward a single shared artistic vision. Their ability to highlight the specialized individual skills of their team members in a way that still feels cohesive is something often only creative projects and teams can generate. At HUB, our respective specializations are utilized and nurtured and our strengths are often played to, but we’re also encouraged to explore, try, fail and expand our skillsets into uncharted territories that not only bring a constantly-refreshing perspective to creative projects, but also nurture us as creative people.
Josef Hoffman in a 1928 retrospective on the 25th anniversary of the Werkstätte:
"The Wiener Werkstatte[‘s]... main achievement has been to give practical and appropriate forms to all objects and then to make these unique and valuable through pleasing proportions and harmonious shapes. The materials, the tools, and sometimes the machine are our only means of expression. We do not dictate to an artist, but seek only to encourage him to follow his own intuition and develop his creative power."